Courage or Friendship?
by SPB
Summary: (Takes place after "A Million Points of Light" but before the epilogue 25 years later.) With peace finally restored to the digital world, the digidestined can get on with their normal lives, and for Davis that means asking Kari a question he's been dreading for a long time. Will he find the courage to ask it, and more importantly, what will Kari have to say?


Davis stood anxiously on the steps outside the apartment that housed the Kamiya residents, staring right at him was the door and all he had to do was knock on it, and ask the question he'd been meaning to ask a certain someone for a long time. A question that, he knew, could change everything, and not necessarily for the better. Perhaps, that's why he'd put off asking this question for so long.

But after standing up against the forces of evil multiple times, helping Ken to overcome his past as the Digimon Emperor, and managing (with the help of his friends) to bring peace back to the digital world, Davis had come to realize there was no point in running. He _had_ to ask the question, regardless of what it could mean for him, and for Kari.

Kari. The more Davis thought about her, the more nervous he became. She was the whole reason he was here right now, he was about to risk their entire friendship on a journey into the unknown, and he knew the stakes were high. " _What if we can never be friends again after this?_ " Davis thought to himself, even though he doubted that worst case scenario. " _What if Kari and her brother never want to see me again, or worse they treat me like a laughing stock just for asking?_ "

Davis shook his head, he was getting all worked up over nothing, or so he told himself. For better or for worse, he knew the concerns he had were never going to go away until he asked Kari the question. And he knew too, that if he ran away now, he'd never forgive himself for it.

Sighing, and mustering up a great deal of willpower, Davis slowly reached out his right hand and knocked on the door a few times. He waited for a little bit, but there was no reply. "Maybe no one's home," He said outloud. "Maybe they all went to visit relatives or something."

However, before Davis could even think about turning around, the door opened and he soon found himself face to face with the one person he'd both hoped to talk to, but also didn't want to see just yet. "Davis?" Kari asked him in her cheerful tone of voice that also contained a hint of concern.

"Uh… hi, Kari," Davis greeted, surprised at how slow the words were to leave his tongue. In his head he knew what he wanted to say, but something inside him was holding him back and forcing him to make small talk. "Uh… can we talk for a bit? There's… something I've been meaning to ask for a while now."

If Kari suspected anything, she didn't show it in her expression or her tone of voice, as she politely put an arm around Davis and told him. "Of course. Why don't you come on inside and sit down? Mom always says it's easier to say something important if you're relaxed."

* * *

Davis allowed Kari to escort him inside, and she quickly but gently shut the door behind them. Davis immediately sank onto the living room sofa, he could feel his heart beating hard enough to where it could jump out of his chest if it wanted to. This was it, the moment he'd both been anticipating and dreading at the same time.

Kari sat down on the sofa next to Davis, trying her hardest to read his body language for any sort of clues as to what he might be about to ask. When that failed, she reluctantly decided to speak up and asked the boy. "So, what is you wanted to talk about? Is something wrong?"

"No, no, no. It's nothing like that," Davis protested with a shake of his head, and he swallowed hard. How hard was it to just say what needed to be said?! At last, after what felt like an eternity of hesitation, he plucked up what courage he had and as he looked Kari square in the eyes he asked her. "Kari… if you're not busy this weekend, how about you and I go out together? We could see a movie, or take a walk in the park, or I could take you out to dinner somewhere."

"Davis, are you asking me for a date?" Kari immediately asked, even though she knew the answer. After all the time she'd spent with Davis over the years, as a friend and classmate, she'd easily picked up on things that Davis had tried to keep hidden, including his not so secret feelings for her.

"Y-yeah," Davis stuttered, unable to say much else. "I mean, that's okay with you, right? If this weekend is a bad time, I can wait until next weekend or whenever it is you're available. You can even pick what we see or where we go to eat."

Kari felt a knot form in her stomach, she'd known for a long time now about how Davis really felt about her, but part of her had always hoped he'd never ask and would just forget about it. Now that he had, however, it was up to her to break the news about how she really felt. "Well…. gosh, Davis…. I don't know what to say," She began, and tried her hardest to figure out how to best phrase what she would next say. After a bit of soul searching, she finally added. "I've…. always liked you, as a friend. But…"

"But what?" Davis asked, mentally kicking himself for asking such a cliche question.

"I'm… afraid I'm going to have to say no," Kari answered, before she quickly added. "It just wouldn't work out. I'm sorry, really I am."

Davis felt his heart sink. True, part of him had suspected Kari probably didn't have any romantic feelings for him, but he'd kept longing for her all the same in the hopes that said part of him was wrong. "I see." Was all he could bring himself to say, as the reality of the situation slowly settled in. He knew he hadn't misheard, but that didn't mean the words didn't still sting.

Kari immediately reached out a hand to Davis and placed it on his shoulder. "My heart already belongs to somebody else, somebody I met years ago. I meant to tell you sooner, but I kept silent because I didn't want to jeopardize our friendship."

Much to Kari's surprise, Davis immediately replied with. "It's T.K., isn't it? I'm not dumb, I could sense you two had something going on. Wasn't too hard to speculate it might be romantic, especially when some of the other digidestined kept teasing you two about it."

"Yeah, it's T.K.," Kari confirmed. "We're actually going to be going out on our first day next month for Valentines Day. You're not mad, are you?"

"Mad? Me? Well, maybe a little," Davis confessed. "But I suppose if I had to lose you to anyone, I'm glad it was him. I know he'll treat you will. He'd better, for his sake!"

Kari giggled a little, in a lot of ways Davis was kind of like the kid brother she'd never had, no wonder he and Tai got along so well. Once that brief chuckle had left her, she pulled Davis into a hug. "Thanks for understanding, I really _am_ sorry you had to find out this way. I hope we can still be friends though."

Davis couldn't help but smile, even if he knew this hug didn't mean anything in terms of romance. "That's what I've always like about you, Kari. You always think about others before yourself, no matter what. Don't ever lose that sense of selflessness, 'cause I'm sure that's part of what drew me and T.K. to you in the first place."

"Don't worry, I won't," Kari replied, as she ended the hug and watched Davis get up from the couch. "If you ever need to talk to me about something, feel free to stop by and ask." She called, as Davis walked to the front door and headed out.

* * *

Upon exiting the Kamiya family apartment, Davis was a bit surprised to bump straight into T.K., the boy he'd always viewed as something of a rival for Kari's affection. A rival that he'd just lost to.

"Davis?" T.K. asked, as if surprised to see the leader of the second generation of the digi-destined.

"That's my name, don't wear it," Davis joked. "What are you doing here, T.K.?"

T.K. blushed ever so slightly, and hoped Davis didn't notice. "Oh.. uh.. no reason, no reason at all. And, did you just say my name correctly?"

"Yeah, I did," Davis replied. "All this time I've been teasing you, kind of hard to mispronounce a guy's name when it's only got two letters. So, let me ask you again 'What are you doing here?', I know you're here for a reason."

"What are you talking about? I didn't come here for any particular reason." T.K. protested.

"You're here to see your girlfriend, aren't you?" Davis bluntly commented.

T.K. flinched, as if he'd just seen Devimon again! "What, how did you… I mean, n-no, what would you give _that_ idea?"

"Look, T.K., you don't have to pretend just because you want to make me feel better," Davis spoke up, a rare hint of seriousness in his voice. "I just spoke with Kari a few second ago, she told me everything."

"Oh, she did?" T.K. blushed again, suddenly finding himself shaking a little.

Davis couldn't help but laugh at T.K.'s expression. "Yeah, she did, and I'm okay with it. As long as she's happy, I'm happy. So don't be nervous, 'kay? You two were probably meant for each other, what with your digimon have angels for digivolutions and all. And the way I see it, Kari couldn't have asked for a better boyfriend."

T.K. could hardly believe his ears, Davis was taking the fact that Kari wasn't in love with him surprisingly well. "Gosh, Davis, you're being surprisingly mature about this. Are you feeling okay? You're not coming down with something, are you?"

"Haha. very funny T.K.," Davis sarcastically replied, before he adopted a more serious tone as he added. "There's only one thing you need to remember if you're gonna have my blessing as Kari's boyfriend."

"What's that?" T.K. asked.

"You treat her well, you hear me?" Davis sternly warned. "Because if you **DON'T** , there's not a digiegg or digivolution that will save you from my wrath! Got it?!"

T.K. gulped, he'd almost forgotten how scary Davis could be when he was angry. "Y-yeah, I got it."

"Good," Davis nodded, then he added. "Oh, and another thing. When you two eventually get married, you gotta promise me that you'll make me the best man at your wedding."

"Marriage is a long way away, Davis," T.K. replied. "But if we _do_ get married someday, you have my word as a gentleman that you'll be the best man. As long as you don't do something drastic before then."

"Hey, there's plenty of fish in the sea," Davis called back. "I'll find the perfect one for me, someday. For now though, you and Kari just focus on being together and being happy with each other. You deserve it."


End file.
